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By Guy Page
As the Democratic Convention opens today in Chicago, Vermont’s lone member of the U.S. House of Representatives is blaming Wall Street for the housing shortage.
Furthermore, Rep. Becca Balint (D-VT) says VP and presumptive Dem presidential nominee Kamala Harris supports her bill to stop ‘predatory’ landlords. Harris is on record supporting various types of price controls in an effort to reduce inflation.
We can protect working families in a big way by cracking down on price fixing and gouging.
“@VP [Harris] supports my bill to ban digital price fixing by predatory tech companies and landlords,” Balint tweeted today. “Rent is already too high. We *literally* can’t afford to let this go on.”
Vermont has the fastest-rising housing prices in the nation, according to a Federal Housing Finance Agency report. As reported in VDC June 11, Vermont’s housing sale prices rose 12.8% between Quarter 1 2023 and Quarter 1 2024, the highest in the U.S. New Jersey was second with 11.6%.
Furthermore, the highest rate of increase for off-campus student rentals among all U.S. universities belongs to UVM, according to another recent report.
While many observers blame Vermont’s exorbitant cost of housing on the Legislature’s decades-long and continued tight control of development via Act 250 and the state’s ‘green’ energy building and remodeling regulations – laws passed under Balint’s watch as a leader in the Vermont Senate – as well as aggressive land conservation and an influx of immigrants across the economic spectrum, Balint instead blames the center of capitalism, Wall Street.
“Regular Americans don’t stand a chance in the housing market if we’re up against Wall Street. It’s ridiculous and can feel hopeless,” Balint tweeted August 16. “The economy needs to work for our working families, not massive corporations.” She claims that one in four homes in the U.S. are bought by ‘big investors’, thus driving up the cost for would-be middle-class buyers.
In June, Balint introduced the Preventing Algorithmic Facilitation of Rental Housing Cartels Act, which claims landlords using specialized software are “coordinating prices to increase rents (by between (5% and 12%), resulting in less competition and higher rent prices for consumers.”
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Land-baroness Kesha Ram Hinsdale is shaking in her Gucci boots.
Land-baroness Kesha Ram Hinsdale is shaking in her Gucci boots.
Robert Kennedy Jr. has policy position on housing that resonate with Balint but she is party loyal and won’t give him the time of day. He wants to eliminate hedge funds from owning single family homes and a 3% First time homebuyer mortgage for anyone who wants to buy their first home. He has ideas and policies at Kennedy24.com. Many in VT would benefit from Kennedy .
Of course Balint supports Harris’ rent control plan given they are both economically illiterate on just about every economic topic. The policies they propose are equivalent to trying to put a fire out using gasoline. Their rent control will drive more shortages of housing along with declines in quality (how is a property owner who rents supposed to keep up on repairs, maintenance and capital improvements? the answer is they won’t). Balint and Harris are counting on the low-information voter in the election as they continue to pander to this voting group. They’ll get that vote in Vermont.
Do not be fooled by the fools themselves!!
Wake up Americans wake up, I know you can do better!
Re: “… the center of capitalism, Wall Street.”
Wall Street isn’t ‘the center of capitalism’. Main street is where true free market capitalism is intended to thrive. Wall Street has become the epitome of ‘crony capitalism’ – i.e., ‘corporatism’. In its worst case, ‘crony capitalism’ is more akin to fascism.
Yes. I know these may seem to be subtle differences to the inexperienced an uneducated folks out there like Becca Balint and Kamala Harris. But it really is quite simple to understand and verify for those of us who were educated in business economics and have had decades of experience in the practice of free enterprise.
Unfortunately, today’s educators are as ‘in the dark’ regarding the precepts of Adam Smith, Ludvig von Mises, Milton Friedman and Thomas Sowell, as are the aforementioned politicians and their associates – especially those who now manage Vermont’s legislature.
There’s a reason rents are going up so fast. It’s because there is so much money being pumped into the market in the name of social services. Raise rent subsidies and rents increase. Increase homelessness subsidies and homelessness increases. Increase the minimum wage and wages go up across the board, thereby offsetting whatever minimal and short-term gain low wage earners initially experience.
In effect, Balint, Harris, Sanders, and Welch, and the myriad other uneducated and inexperienced folks trying to micro-manage our economy, are promoting counterproductive policies that make everything worse for the very people they intend to help. With friends like that we don’t need enemies.
I take exception to the premise that they actually believe what they claim to believe. I wholeheartedly agree about the very real difference between capitalism and free enterprise. I saw that years ago, despite lack of formal education.
Re: “I take exception to the premise that they actually believe what they claim to believe.”
I was giving them the benefit of the doubt. If they do understand and are merely deceiving us, then they are no different from common thieves and con artists… or ‘Government Gangsters’, as Kash Patel has described them.
I’m sure the homeless living in their cars would be doing better if the Biden Harris Administration kept the Trump domestic oil policy. Biden Harris also stopped a major pipeline. Those two things alone increases burdens on the middle class moving many to lower class. Fix that first Becca.
Balint, god, she has to do something for her $175,000 yearly salary. Her bill supported by Harris, wonder if both wear pant suits as does HRC. The VT libs that voted for her, don’t care about rent prices, so she’s a shoe in again, again, again, again. More liberal “feel good” again.
Clueless on this as well where her PAC money timing and sourcing came from just before the last election. Wonder if it is going to be the same drill this go around.
Guess not as she is unopposed by anyone in her party but at least with this bill she will not be charged higher prices for the crapola that will be put out in her good name.
Balint is as clueless about basic economic principles as Harris. The availability of housing is all about supply and demand. Her administration has allowed 15 million indigent migrants into the country, all wedding affordable housing, while thousands of our veterans are sleeping on the streets.
I don’t care if we get Mickey Mouse for Congress !! Becca has got to go !!!
We HAVE to care. Yes, she has to go, as well as well as that guy who has never worked a day in his life yet has millions of dollars on a paltry Congressional wage. Yes, new faces all the way around, preferably some good ole country boys or gals.
Well ok. It seems so easy. Don’t allow owners to charge what they want, make them charge what customers [constituents] want to pay. Just control the markets. Lord, why haven’t we done this before. So simple. “…and one LAW to rule them all”
The point is to ruin the economy. If they have a beef with Wall Street, why don’t they cap the stock market? (I know that sounds nuts, but even they’re not that stupid. I mean, of all the anti-capitalist crap they spew, you never hear them say, “We will end everyone’s 401K!!)
God help Vermont from the Democrats.
God isn’t registered to vote in Vermont. And neither are at least 20% of conservative born & raised Vermonters who complain incessantly about the socio-political state of their state but don’t ever bother to get up and vote or register to do so.
God helps those who help themselves.
Pity the pious democrats wasting their life and our money believing laws and regulations solve problems when in fact they almost always make them worse.
If you want results its better to fix the underlying issues driving the market.
The pious, progressive, liberal, democrats, in passing their twisted legislation, are just trying to ensure themselves a space nearer the water cooler when they finally shuffle off this mortal coil and wind up in a very warm hereafter…
The Right Mark
Dems are offering Planned Parenthood abortions and vasectomies during their conventions…doesnt anyone understand their godless intentions?
Exactly! Next they’ll want to be euthanizing us old goats.
So when you keep voting in liberals and their foolish agendas this is what you get, everything gets increased so you pay, and pay in the form of taxes for funding their nonsense, policies to save the world, we know that’s pure BS.
The only price gouging is coming from your elected officials and their disregard for your financial security, spending whores who can’t even balance a checkbook most likely.
Wake up people, you live within your means, and so should the Government, when they have unfettered spending…………. you pay and pay, if you don’t like it then make some changes, voice your opinion, and vote them out !!!
I was just working in So. Burlington last week in the neighborhoods off Spear St.
These were homes in the $800,000.00 bracket and more. These homes are owned by wealthy liberals. I could tell by the manner in which people walking their dogs were dressed. Many of them home and not leaving for work. These people are insulated from the destructive policies of the progressives they vote for.
Chittendon County has 6 senators based on population and Washington County has 3. Both areas always vote liberal as most urban areas are liberal, especially in VT. These two counties represent almost 1/3rd of the senate votes of 30 senators elected by mostly urban votes and the majority of the senate is always liberal. This hocus pocus gerrymandering of the legislature that creates mixed senatorial districts based on population insures a certain unfair advantage for the continuation of liberal power in the senate.
The founders of the country realized this problem when they created the electoral college thereby equalizing the urban/rural vote so the cities wouldn’t have more power to continually elect liberal candidates. So, federal presidential candidates have to win the state and not separate districts.
Vermont’s political power in the senate is not fair or equal to the people who vote. Senate districts should be by county regardless of population. there should be 14 Vermont senators, two for each county. Then each elected senator would have to win the county vote, not a gerrymandered district based on equal population. This should be a plank of the republican party which goes along with election integrity and fair voting for the people in rural areas who are not currently represented. This would go a long way to ensuring equal representation in the senate, but the progressives would not jeopardies their power and it will not get done unless the people demand it. As far as waiting for this current republican party to push for this change, I won’t hold my breath! senators on every liberal bill brought up in the senate. Add to these, other
VIP 1
Ignore the last sentence, Not sure how it got there. An edit button would eliminate these problems.
To VIP1 I have been expounding on this imbalance of Senators many years and have had many a conversation with Joe Benning (from NJ) living in Lyndonville). I suggested 2 Senators from each county, he thought 3 was better. I was following the US for each state. Two Senators would balance the counties with equal vote in Montpelier. No more Burlington and Montpelier controlling. Some time perhaps it can become a positive.
Got a recorded poll from Blaint the other night. All of the poll questions had nothing to do with any of my concerns. All the questions were about climate change, abortion and other Commiecrat concerns. I hung up halfway through the poll. Sad, we have such a vapid a person representing us in congress.
I hate to say I told you so, but I told you so. Let us not forget, Balint got herself in hot water almost immediately after her election due to alleged “campaign finance irregularities”. To which she claimed, “I didn’t know I couldn’t do that”. More like “I didn’t expect to get caught”. I’ll never forget Steve Martin’s line back in the day. He claimed that if he ever got caught robbing a bank, he’d simply go to court and say “I didn’t know armed robbery was illegal”, and they’d let him go.
Anyway, this, and all of Balint’s “initiatives”, were as predictable as the sun rising in the east. Although she’d probably argue that if we don’t do something about Climate Change (TM), the sun will in fact be rising in the south by 2050.
with all these comments no one is talking about pickpocketpowell and grammy smellen yellen and the federal reserve inflation//// but of course, the devil is in the details/////
Ms. Balint, you mean Blackrock, correct? The ones buying up distressed properties and sponsoring the scamdemic 1.0/2.0/global warming and new world paradigm the Vermont legislature and Congress seem to want to appease.
Jay, touches upon my thoughts. When we allowed homeless to have hotel accommodations for 2-3 years we doled out a LOT of money we would likely like to see used elsewhere at this point. With numbers of 2-3K being housed at say $150/night we saved many hotel businesses from sinking, but we spent endlessly on something that had no future value – no land, no houses/apartments… but the bill, just for housing came up to around $56-84M for 180 days – now extend that for 2-3 years. This doesn’t include transportation, social services, and suboxone/methadone treatments…
How would some communities like to tap that pocket for flood repairs?
https://mises.org/library/book/progressive-era